Encounters On A Grave
by Cobalite
Summary: A lot happens in at night in a cemetary in a small town called Sunnydale. Especially on the grave of the greatest Slayer that ever lived.
1. Angel

Author's Notes: Various characters in the Buffyverse react to Spike's presence in Sunnydale, and his love for Buffy. Comments appreciated, flames will be extinguished. Email can be sent to cobalite@yahoo.com. 

Encounters on A Grave: Angel   
By Cobalite Ice 

He hadn't been ready to come to the funeral. In fact, it took Fred's endless rambles to finally drive him from the Hyperion. So here Angel was, lightly tracing the words on her grave. "She save the world, a lot." 

"That she did." A voice shook Angel from his reverie. 

Angel spun around. "You. What are you doing in town?" 

"The real question is what are you doing in town? I live here." Spike looked at the fresh flowers on Buffy's grave. 

"Not tonight, Spike. We'll kill each other tomorrow. I'm busy right now." Angle didn't even bother looking at Spike again, until a bouquet of daisies joined his white roses. He blinked, twice, and stared as Spike sat down next to him, and lit a cigarette. "I think I've been spending too much time with Fred, because I could swear you just put flowers on Buffy's grave." 

"Every night since we buried her." Spike enjoyed Angel's confusion. 

"We?" 

"Yeah, we. The Watcher, Niblet, Red, the Whelp... well, you know their names." Spike blew a ring of smoke in his sire's face. "Just finished a patrol, thought I'd stop by before heading home." 

"Home?" Angel whimpered. "And why are you patrolling?" 

"Nobody told you?" Spike started laughing. "Sire, when they cursed you, they blighted the entire line. The Master got himself stuck like a wine cork. Darla was staked by her favorite, reborn, and revamped by her grandchilde. Drusilla can't decide if she'd rather have me, you, or Angelus. And I...I made the same mistake you did." 

"You killed a gypsy and were cursed with a soul?" Angel was getting one of those headaches he got after talking to Cordelia. 

"No, I got captured by Captain Cardboard and his buddies. They put a chip in my head. I can't hurt anything human. I've been working with the Scoobies since last Thanksgiving." 

"You were here when Buffy came to see me in LA?" Angel ran both versions of the day through his head, and couldn't come up with a single mention of Spike. "Never mind. So you're a turncoat. Maybe it runs in the family." 

"That's not my problem." 

"If not the chip, then what?" 

"You shouldn't have brought roses. She hates them, ever since you sent her the bouquet of dead ones. Anyone who sent them for the funeral when Joyce died, she trashed them." Spike avoided the question. "Where were you, Sire? She needed you. We must have left a hundred messages on your machine." 

"I was in another dimension." Angel snapped back. "If you and Buffy were so cozy, why didn't you save her?" 

"You think I didn't try?" Spike spun around, snarling. "You think I let that bitch Glory nearly kill me, and then get thrown off a fucking tower because I wanted this to happen? You think I wanted to see her finally break?" 

"What happened to you, Spike?" Angel took a good look at his childe, the bruises marring his face, the still healing leg. "Not the injuries. Why were you here?" 

"I told you, I made the same mistake you did." Spike inhaled deeply. "You started smoking again, I see. Want a fag?" 

"Stop avoiding the question, and yes I want a cigarette." Angel angrily grabbed the lighter from his coat pocket. "I'd forgotten what it was like, living with someone who isn't all there. I'm beginning to think you went blond in self defense." 

"This Fred guy is a nut, huh?" Spike watched Angel lit up. The sight was slightly disturbing. "How long's it been since you quit?" 

"Forty years. Addiction is forever, but you won't live another minute if you don't answer my question. Why were you here?" Angel paused. "And Fred's a woman." 

"I told you. I made the same mistake you did." 

"You don't have a soul, you didn't try to destroy the world. What mistake could you have made...." Angel trailed off. "No." 

"Oh, yes. It's hilarious, isn't it?" 

"Hilarious, it's ridiculous." Angel started laughing, his first real laugh since he'd seen Willow on the couch. "You, in love with Buffy! A soulless monster with the blood of two Slayers on his hands." 

"How many Slayers have you killed, Angelus? Darla lost count after the first half dozen." 

"We are not going to throw down, and have a fight on Buffy's grave. It's disrespectful." Angel fought down his game face. 

"Angel." A new voice entered the quiet graveyard. "It took you long enough." 

"Dawn." Angel got up, and gave her a quick hug. "I'm so sorry. God, you've gotten so tall." 

"Actually, we've never met." Dawn laughed at his confused expression. "I'm done talking to Mom, Spike. You ready to go?" 

"What do you mean, we've never met?" Angel let Dawn lead him away. 

Spike touched the stone. "Goodnight, love." Then he followed Dawn and Angel away.


	2. Hank

Author's Notes: Various characters in the Buffyverse react to Spike's presence in Sunnydale, and his love for Buffy. Comments appreciated, flames will be extinguished. Email can be sent to cobalite@yahoo.com. 

Encounters on A Grave: Hank   
By Cobalite Ice 

As they got closer to her grave, Dawn unconsciously entwined her hand with Spike's. He understood, he was one of the few that did. Spike stopped a half dozen meters away. "There's someone here." 

"Angel?" 

"Someone human." 

He read the inscription on her tombstone with great confusion. "She saved the world? She was a college student with ties to some sort of gang! I cannot believe they let Dawn pick the inscription." 

"Who is this guy?" Spike was irked over the insulting comments. 

Dawn didn't answer, and let go of his hand. "It took you long enough, Daddy." 

"This is your father? I thought he was dead." The idea of this man staying away all this time, his wife and eldest daughter dead, was ridiculous. If it weren't for the chip, Dawn would be short one more family member. 

"Who told you I was dead?" Hank wondered what kind of lies his deluded wife had been telling. 

"No one. But I could tell you what kind of toothpaste Joyce used when I first came here four years ago, or what brand of dye Buffy used in her hair. Can't for the life of me recall ever seeing you." 

"I admit, it's been a while....Has it really been so long since I was here?" Where had the time gone? 

"The last time you visited was when you brought us back from LA at the start of Buffy's junior year." Dawn's voice sounded very bitter, and suddenly it became clear to Spike why. 

At least they had real memories of her, from the time after the monks had created her. She'd never really met her own father. "Welcome to Sunnyhell." 

"Who are you?" 

"The name's Sp-OW!" Dawn had stomped on his foot. "William. My name is William." 

"British. There are more British men in Sunnydale than in England these days." Hank muttered, stood, and shook Spike's hand. "So William, are you related to Mr. Giles?" 

"It's possible, I guess." Spike turned a little green at the idea. "No, I'm a free lance writer. Came into town to investigate some historic relics." If you considered the Cross of Dulac a historical relic. 

"And you're walking through a cemetery at night with my youngest because?" Something was off about this boy. No one ever trying to get anywhere dressed like that. 

"We were coming to see Buffy. Something everyone but you has been doing quite frequently." Dawn pushed past her father, and stared at the stone. "And Buffy wasn't in a gang. She was never in a gang." 

"Whatever you say, Sweetheart." Hank decided to humor his little girl. "This is the first time I've been in the country in a month. I think it's time you came home with me." 

"And where's home this week, Dad, Prague? Denmark? Venezuela?" Dawn spun around. "God, my mother and sister died! Where the hell were you? You couldn't put of an important deal long enough to send a condolence card?" 

"Dawn, companies like mine have been going belly up everyday. I had to reschedule four meetings just to come to the funeral, and I had to leave right after. This was my first chance to come get you." 

"I'm not going anywhere with you. You're a worse monster than anyone I've ever met! At least Glory cared about her family, however twisted it was. I'm just another detail for you." An angry Dawn was not to be trifled with. 

"You are my daughter, and you're coming home with me! I am not arguing this out in the middle of a cemetery." Hank hadn't planned on dragging her out of town tonight, but the way things were going he'd have to. 

A plan sprung to mind. One to get rid of him forever. "I'm not your daughter." 

"Dawn." Spike tightened his grip on her arms. "What are you doing?" 

"That's right. I'm not your daughter. Mom told me before she died. It's not your blood running through my veins. Your only daughter is in the ground, and I won't go with you. I'll go to court if I have to, if that's what it takes to stay in Sunnydale." 

"Is this true?" Hank asked the blond man, hoping this was all some plan she'd concocted to stay in town. 

Spike nodded. "Joyce was a wonderful woman, but she was a fool to stay with you for so long. You've never really known Dawn." His irony wasn't lost on the little girl next to him. 

"I.. if anyone ever found out.." 

"If anyone found out you'd be ridiculed. Everything you worked so hard for destroyed. I don't want any money, any support. Just sign the damned custody papers, and let me stay with my family." 

"These people are your family now?" 

"The best I've ever had. Go back to LA, and forget you ever had a second daughter." 

"And if I fight for you?" 

"An acquaintance of ours knows some high profile lawyers. I'm sure Wolfram and Hart would be all to happy to help maintain the balance of power here." Spike gave him a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Drusilla promised him their services if he'd ever needed them, and keeping the Key in California where they could keep an eye on her was high on their priorities. 

"Goodbye, Dawn." 

"Goodbye. Giles will be sending you the papers." She watched him walk away, and Spike wrapped an arm around her. 

"What if he'd pressed it?" 

"They made me from Buffy. It would be like trying to prove his grandchild was actually his daughter, at least that's how Giles explains it." 

"You really consider me family?" 

"Sure. Every Summers girl needs a pet vampire." 


	3. Pike

Author's Notes: Various characters in the Buffyverse react to Spike's presence in Sunnydale, and his love for Buffy. Comments appreciated, flames will be extinguished. Email can be sent to cobalite@yahoo.com. 

Encounters on A Grave: Pike By Cobalite Ice 

It had been years since he'd even spoken to her. They'd gone their separate ways after Hemery burned to the ground, and the last time he'd heard her voice was when she'd called to say Ford was dead. The occasional letter was his only clue she was still among the living, and when they'd finally stopped coming, Pike knew Buffy had finally given up. He'd done some research on his own. Buffy had beaten a few records living as long as she had. He never heard the footsteps behind him. "Not again. Alright, who are you? Some long lost cousin?" 

Dawn poked Spike in the ribs. "We don't have any long lost cousins. This is the long lost first serious boyfriend. It's good to see you again, Pike." 

"His name is Pike?" Spike let out a chuckle, and started to introduce himself, until Dawn whispered something into his ear. 

"Pike is a friend of Ford's. The cancer patient you turned and Buffy had to stake. Pike told her if he ever met this Spike guy he'd be dust so fast he wouldn't know what hit him" Dawn let go of his ear. "So be good, William." 

"Nice to meet you. Little Dawnie, all grown up. I'm so sorry about your mom, kiddo." Pike raked his eyes up and down Spike's form. "Buffy usually went for tall dark and handsome. Where'd she find you?" 

Spike almost growled. "At the Bronze, if it's any of your business. And you're right, Buffy never went near a guy who wasn't at least four inches taller than her and had some secret fetish with darkness." 

Pike just nodded. "I just wanted to hear the real story. Both versions I've heard are ridiculous." 

"Let's hear them." 

"The cops say she was being stalked by a hospital intern named Ben. That he repeatedly threatened her, and finally kidnapped Dawn, got a couple of her friends almost killed. He tells Buffy to meet him at an abandoned construction site, and while she's untying Dawn, he pushes her, then jumps himself, and suffocates on his own blood. Good story, if you didn't know Buffy's three times as strong as your average male." 

"Thanks. We thought it up all by ourselves." Dawn took a moment of pride, and then pressed on. "What's the other version?" 

Pike's voice dropped. "They say she killed a god." 

"That's not true." Spike said, and watched Pike's face before delivering the final blow. "Her Watcher finished the bloke off while Buffy went to stop the world from ending." 

"An actually god?" Pike squeaked. 

"Oh yeah, a hell god. Real bitch, or bastard depending on which form it took. I still have scars." Dawn lifted her tank a little. "They needed my blood." 

"A real god. I always knew she'd done some amazing stuff, but..." Pike trailed off. "She saved the world a lot, huh? How many times?" 

"Seven if you include Lothos. One sophomore year, one junior year, one senior year, two last year, and this latest disaster." Dawn sighed. "And the Council didn't even send flowers." 

"She did okay for herself. She ever find anyone who loved her as much as I did?" Pike looked at Spike out of the corner of his eye. 

"Three times. Most Slayers never found one man who could love them. Buffy found four." 

Pike noticed something. Spike's lack of the need for oxygen. "I don't mean to be rude, but, are you a vampire?" 

"For the past century." 

"Dawn, get away from him." Pike pulled a cross from his back pocket. 

"Pike, it's okay. Buffy told him to look after me. He wouldn't hurt me, even if he could." 

"Could?" 

"Can't hurt anything human, so put the cross away. Besides, every vampire in this town knows you never mess with the Slayer's kin and live to tell the tale." 

"How could you love anyone, let alone a vampire Slayer?" 

"No one said the Aurelius line was sane. You should meet my sire. Got himself a soul, goes around saving the innocent in Los Angeles." 

"Man, she warned me none of the vampires in this place were in their right minds. All the vamps I meet just want to snack. Here, they fall in love, and baby-sit their mortal enemies kid sister. I've had just about all I can take. I can't stay, Dawnie, but if you ever need me, here's my cell phone number." Pike handed Dawn a card, and kissed her on the cheek. 

"Keep safe, Pike. Don't let the demons bite'cha." 

"I'm good so far, aren't I? Take good care of her, William. She's getting to the age where they start to burn down buildings." 

"That's okay. It's one of my favorite hobbies."


End file.
